Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and look at the night sky. The stars and moon seem to sing to you in the deep dark velvet blue sky and look at the shadows and plat of white and light that is my garden. I say my prayers then and in those quiet moments when you find yourself alone. We so seldom find ourselves alone any more. Even when we are in the house alone there is the phone, TV and computer constantly going off, begging us to talk trash, play games and spend more money! I think that's why I like gardening so much. You get to turn off the day and the electronics (if your wise.) Spend some quality time with yourself. I am not alone. I am alone with myself!
Turn on some soothing music, kneel down and think about how the universe really works for you. Peace and balance come after a few hours in the sun and you take that cool drink while you inspect what you've done. People say I don't always answer my phone and sometimes I can't be reached...it could be important! I think to myself as human beings we've gone from solitary farmers, artists and makers of things to people who answer the phone. The dead will still be dead, the disaster will still be a disaster...and little Timmi will still be a brat if I wait to answer your call. What's important to you is not always important to me and I swear some people talk just so they know they are still alive.
You get so little time to just breath and stand in the sun. When I am sad I go to the garden. When I am happy you'll find me there too. I am straining to make a place where you can walk, think and be. That's what a garden is to me.
A garden is not something to make curb appeal... that means the things there mean so little to you and you'd sell it in a heart beat. It's not something to show off (although you can do that). I don't want to pick my plants because they would impress the neighbors. Although I sometimes find them staring at my riot of color and shaking their heads. A garden is something special to me. My grandmother's and Aunt Alice's peonies. The iris from my great grandmothers yard. Plants my husband bought me because I trained him not to buy me cut flowers I'd rather have live!
There is nothing better than standing in the middle of your own garden looking at the plants you grew and feeling that sense of accomplishment...and feeling the need to pull weeds instead of answer your phone! How much of ourselves have we lost by becoming the Tech-nation?
While you are out browsing and consuming wander out and buy a few plants. Turn off everything as you plant them. Focus on making them grow and listen to some good tunes...breath and feel your life change (if you stick with it) and yes become obsessed with growing something and adding to the universe instead of taking. Now I think it's time for me to go back to bed.
